Sociological naturalism

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Sociological naturalism is a theory that states that the natural world and social world are roughly identical and governed by similar principles. Sociological naturalism, in sociological texts simply referred to as naturalism, can be traced back to the philosophical thinking of Auguste Comte in the 19th century, closely connected to positivism, which advocates use of the scientific method of the natural sciences in studying social sciences. It should not be identified too closely with Positivism, however, since whilst the latter advocates the use of controlled situations like experiments as sources of scientific information, naturalism insists that social processes should only be studied in their natural setting. A similar form of naturalism was applied to the scientific study of art and literature by Hippolyte Taine (see Race, milieu, and moment).

In modern sociology, naturalism has been replaced by antinaturalism, as most sociologists agreed that the social world, based on human actions, differs from the natural world, governed by laws of physics.^{[citation needed][dubious – discuss]}

[edit] See also

• Antipositivism
• Philosophical naturalism
• Sociological positivism